FORLORN HOPE

 

FORLORN HOPE

By

Peter-Paul Edoka

Chapter One

“Mum, we are running out of bathing soap.” Haniel said as he strolled out of the house, hurrying to school. The birds he kept as pets were singing the morning hymn for him as he passed them, waving and calling each by its name.

“Since you love to act like a father, it will be please if you could as well buy the house some tablets of soap as you return from school.” His mother said, smiling to her funny son whose back has already been turned at her. She called again.

“Acting father, did you hear me or should I repeat myself?”

“I heard you wife. But please know that the month is still fresh and money is far from coming now.” Haniel said while still standing by his birds cage. He got their food cane, threw some into the cage and waved them have a nice day.

With laughter on her lips the mother said after him. “Have a whale of time my husband. I love you son.”

Turning his face, he said to the mother. “Love you too mum, and enjoy your work-free day.”

Chris Haniel was in his last year at the university when the most interesting part of his whole life story started. He was attending Otukpa University College, the most prestigious school in the whole of that vicinity and beyond. It was at this school that you would see a son of a father telling you he is sitting on the sit used by his father years before he was born. A school full of history that generation there, at that particular time, would do all they could to secure the tradition of the school, the culture of the school and the dynamic academic excellence that it has set itself to achieve.

 O.U.C as the school was fondly called, had stood over 80 years with the same zeal for prestige and academic excellence, with the keenness to come first in both sports and academic, to hold on to the name its founders had set to protect and handle down to generations that would come after them and that are watching and waiting to be enrolled into it. This is where Haniels father attended and met his wife and got married to her; and years later gave birth to Haniel. This is the school Haniel hoped to attend as he grew up and also nurturing the hope of meeting his wife like his father.

This school is somewhere in the world. And when you look closer, you could see yourself or someone like you. You could see someone who is struggling to make it or who has given up the academic pursues due to low assimilation. Because of the level of academic pursuit and competition to be at the top in sports and academic, those who could not meet up at the second term of a section either withdraw or continue to strive. In this school you could see young souls falling in love like the air we breath, and this will always be carefree; youthful exuberance they call it. This is often seen in the graduating class, those preparing to enter into the world and become what they each set to become. It has become a tradition that some numbers meet here, fall in love, and later get married. And such success the School celebrates with the presence of different dailies to take it to the world.

 The day was Friday. Haniel and his mates were gathered in the school auditorium for the filling of their forms. As the exercise commenced, Haniel made a mistake on his form and needed an eraser to clean it and make correction. Standing up to get the eraser, he said, more to himself than to anyone else, scanning the figure that stood at the entrance of the hall. “My Lord and my God, who could this, be? Who is this person in whom I could see my whole self changing in just a second? Just a glance at her and I was transformed into another being.” His pen dropped from his hand as he stared on, couldnt imagine the very thing that made him to look at this girl for that space of time, and speechless. But whatever it was, I believed it to be a real naturalistic ambiance. 

She was tall, slim and has a skin colour like that of his mother and sister. Her long hair too was part of her features that took his heart from his chest to his mouth, but not out. She appeared like a being that could not hurt a fly, nonetheless a being like him. Although she entered the hall, sat down and did the filling of her form, she did not noticed Haniels existence in the hall but greeted some of her friends, giving him the assurance that after all she was mayhap new to the school, new to him but not new to some students. He swore to meet her. Outside the auditorium the morning sun was bestowing on the students vitamin D. Haniel took proper look at her. She was exchanging greetings, and Haniel noticed his classmate Comfort among those close to her. She was beautiful and gentle, talked with careful selection of words that sounded poetic all the time; and smiling as if the sun rose from her eyes. And he remembered his favourite song by Celine Dion:

In your eyes, I see ribbons of colour,

I see us inside of each other,

I see my conscious moves with yours,

And I hear voices say: What his is hers,

Am falling in to you...

Walking home with his friends, he was quite and kept more to himself, which was unusual with him. His bosom friend Richard noticed his uneasiness and asked what could be wrong with him. Haniel was known to be very humorous and friendly even when everyone has reason to be angry, especially after the school football team had lost in a match. But today, Haniel seems to be far away in a world where he alone could tell the colour of the walls and the kind of birth that inhabits there. He alone can tell what he is seeing and why he is seeing what he is seeing. He alone can tell.

“Is anything the matter with you Han?” Richard asked with much attention that only a mother could give to her child, even maybe her only child.

“What can I say? Who would believe what I saw, and accept what am feeling? How can I explain what has happened to me? 

Haniel was saying all these with his right hand holding his school bag at his chest like a loyal Nigerian reciting the National Anthem.

Everyone knew Haniel and his acts. But this is strange. No smiles, no curious staring; just gazing, lost-like gazing into the open space in front of him. How could he really explain this? Who would believe him? Not even him.

“You look like you have just seen a ghost.”

“May be she is a ghost. May be an angel or may be nothing. Maybe I didnt really see anything. Maybe its just my imagination and thoughts. Maybe.

When Richard had she, he pulled Haniel to himself and away from the presence of the other students. Thank God the others were in their usual state of perpetual argument concerning what football team in the European champions league played better in the last game. So they gave little or no attention to what Haniel and Richard were involved in.

In the dailies of yesterday, Avosehs Watch and The Brown Chronicle both reported a story of eight beautiful girls who were arrested by, first the parish priest of St. Attracters Catholic Church, Umarichi where the girls had gone to tempt the priest and his parishioners into sexual sins. The story says these girls were sent from the world below the earth and water, to inflict deadly diseases upon men who would take to their wives; diseases that are more dangerous than the globally acclaimed HIV and AIDS. The papers reported that some parts of Lagos state had been captured by these girls and it is by their map to invade the house of God and the faithful man of God that they travelled to Benue state in search of Fr. Ajuji Patrick-Chris, the priest with the awesome power of healing and casting out devils. When the girls were caught, they were handed over to the police. The Brown Chronicle titled the story, Beautiful Girls: Mobil House of Deadly Diseases. 

The dailies of that day got to the library of Haniels school, and he, Richard and virtually all the students read it. Now that Haniel is saying to have seen she and is acting like someone sting by scorpion on the head, Richard recall the story of the yesterdays paper and was alarmed. What could have come over his friend?

 “Who did you see Han? Where did you see her, and what does she look like?”

“I said my prayers this morning with my head on my mothers left lap, still feeling sleepy. But I asked in my prayers that God should bless this day for us both and make it fruitful. I prayed against the girls in the papers of yesterday.” 

He said motionlessly and without looking at Richard. He continued, “But this morning in the hall, what I saw was not an illusion, and I know I was not dreaming; at least I am talking to you now.”

Richard could not believe his eyes and ears. He asked again. “Please tell me who she is. Let me know who she is.”

“I dont know her and have never seen her. But, God, she is beautiful and gentle and kind. ...”

“You just said you dont know her and now you are saying she is all this, looking as if you just got sad news?”

“Ok. She came into the hall after us this morning, smiling and looking like, Christ, like an angel. And she did fill the form too. After the whole exercise, I saw her talking to Comfort our class mate. She was ...”

“For christsake Han, calm down and be careful with your thoughts and whatever is going through you head right now. She could be anybody from the other department. You know, this is the first time in four years that students in all the faculties would be gathered together to perform a common task. She could be anything.”

Haniel could not bring himself to think of her being any other thing than the beauty he saw. She couldnt have been any other thing. How could she be something else other than a loving person who should be his girl, his wife, the mother of his children. He made Richard shared his thoughts.

“If only I could see her, I would ask her just one question: Be my wife, the mother of my children.”

Richard laughed until tears rolled down his cheek. He laughed and laughed and got himself a sit-on a trunk of tree close by. Finally he said.

“If only you could ask her the one question. Here you are planning to ask her two separate questions.”

“No its one question.”

“Be my wife and be the mother of my children are two different questions my friend.”

“But there is no way she could be my wife and not the mother of my children.”

“You are wrong Han. She can be your wife and not the mother of your children whom you have given names too even before they were born. No, even before you met their mother.”

Haniel had a jotter that accompanied him everywhere. In the jotter were all his thoughts as they come. There he has written the names he intended to give his children, six in number. His sister too developed this attitude of given the unborn names that they will bear. Their father did the same for them, but the sister chose to do so because her mother did not do what her father did. And she had developed this habit of fighting for the right of women, to do that which the world conceded to be solely for men. 

What is good for the gander and the goose is also good for the gees

Haniel was still in his lost-mode and spoke with lazy speed. “Richard, you need to see her. I wonder why you did not see her even. She was ...”

“If I had seen her and she cast a spell on me like you, both of us could have been fighting over none existing being. Or maybe ...”

“No, she didnt cast a spell on me Richard. I fell for her charm, her beauty, smiles, and the attention she gave to other ...”

“But did not give to you.” Richard cut in.

“No, I did not go to her for her attention, I stood afar and watched.” Haniel said with a conviction that only comes when his mother promised to get him and Richard to attend the same institution abroad for their masters. It has been the only thing he asked his parents on his birthdays marking, to save the money meant for the cake so that Richard can attend the same school with him later. 

Richard had known Haniel for the better part of their childhood. He had known how close he was to his parents and how important he is in the family, the last child and the only male child. His parents had told him how they met and encouraged him to look up his sleeve for possible reoccurrence of the yesterdays. Richard spoke now, more seriously.

“Look Han, am not saying you should not do what you had always been advised to do by your parents. Am not saying you should not fight to repeat the pleasant life your parents had and are still having. But you should also know that things dont always turn out the way we want them to. And your father too had said it times without number in my presence; that we should always make plans, make two plans in case the desired one fails to come by. That way we will not be surprised or socked when met with failure. Now that you have seen this girl, please let us just keep it cool until we meet Comfort and enquire about who that girl is.”

“And that would be next week Monday, right?”

“Right.” Richard answered with the tone of an elder brother who obviously knows more and better that the younger one. 

Like a child who had been lured into accepting to do what it was asked to do but refused earlier, he said.

  “I have never doubted my friendship to you. You are my brother that my mother did not give birth to. You are that guardian sent from above to watch and direct my steps. And you will be my best man if you help me get that girl to marry me.”

Richard laughed, saying between laughter, the danger of Haniel hurting himself if that girl turns to be someone or something else. But Haniel told him, love is like death, until you get involved in it you will never understand how it feels. 

End of Chapter One

WHAT REALLY IS DARKNESS?

WHAT REALLY IS DARKNESS?

Darkness is a usual way of saying the absence of light. It has been conceptualized to mean the inability to find light. But really, is darkness so intertwined and an equal opposite with light such that both exist independently of the other? If as we propose darkness is the absence of light then we would have to define darkness as an equal opposite with light and would need to explain the origin of darkness. We would also have to state the originator of darkness and discover the “bible, Quran, or some religious book of darkness”. Even so, would the book be made by light and read with light? Would the writers of the so-called book of darkness be called enlightened or “endarkened”? Even so, why don’t we have such words?

Evidently, it could be seen that therein darkness, light exists. Hence what we then define darkness as:

“Darkness therefore is the ignorance of the presence of light”

Based on our established facts, darkness here does not imply only the physical darkness in its totality. Darkness is often regarded as a contrary, a vice, a negation or any form of anti-light.

Below are some of the illustrations of what darkness really is;

1.     Darkness often regarded as when one closes their eyes.

2.     Darkness is when you avoid the light.

3.     Darkness is that casual blindness.

4.     Darkness in totality is the destruction of a tree planted by a river and on fertile ground that has refused to produce fruits outside its season.

Light exists in and around everywhere, permeating all things and all concepts. Light is that end, a destination complete in itself but is often appealed to by others. All things possess a destination, an end, a goal, which is often colloquially referred to in that saying “Light at the end of the tunnel”. Beside the fact that light is a destination, it is also a path to that end. Light has no sought of dependence on any existent because in it, it is.

Light is never absent. Could this possibly mean that there is no darkness? As previously emphasized darkness exists in the brightest lights. The darkness is open to those who are closed to the fact that light permeates all. What this ignorance does is to create a misconception. We choose not to experience or sense light. All choices we make are based on our power. Man as I wrote on a previous article is “MASTER AMIDST NATURE” giving him free will over himself and circumstances. Darkness or light irrespective of which comes first to him, he as at liberty to see truth in anyone. But the very fact that he does not perceive the light is not a stand that the light itself does not exist.

Let’s give this analysis of the eye, on entering into a dark room sees nothing majorly because the eye has not come to comprehend the light, but eventually the light is comprehended. It could be in terms of the eye being able to see or in the brain recognizing the patterns around the place. Even the blind perceive light in their walking, and living generally. This is what makes them live on. Why then do we say that “darkness is the absence of light? ” If so, who took the light and where to? And even so, light would still exist in their minds.

Rene Descartes said “cogito Ergo sum” to mean our existence is an antecedent of our thoughts. If therefore they perceive it, it means they are light and the light would seize to exist in them when they are no more. But still the light lives on in the minds of those they interacted with, “Although an imperfect immorality” as implied in Plato’s symposium but the light is not only subjected to man.

At times we tend to make statements connoting our ignorance of the external machine of light and so ignorantly accept our ignorance. From the perspective of an individual in a difficult situation it often appears that light is absent, but the reality exists in the very fact that the individual chooses not to see the light. It is shown in the attitudes towards the situation. Also this is seen in the example of how physical challenged people approach life based on their physical limitation.

We also suffice it to say that what changes when it seems light is reducing is that our exposure to light is whether in constant flux not. When one experiences too much light, so much that he can’t handle, he sees it to be darkness. 17^th century English scientist Isaac Newton in his laws of motion explained that “a uniform motion and rest” usually give a similar effect. The only difference exists in the fact that the former connotes motion. These depend on the conception of the person at that time. It’s therefore often necessary that we examine the tides of change to decipher what exactly we are in “the boat” or “the sea”. Only in this would we come to understand the eternity of light and the story of darkness.

Hence in the so-called “bad situation”, one should avoid the myopic view of such situation as being part of the regular life, instead one needs understand that the situation is not the issue but the reaction to the issue is the problem. This hangs on whether the individual sees it as helpless or hopeless. We control the ball as our perception is necessary for our interpretation of darkness or light.

“Darkness permeates the eyes of the stars through heart of men.

But light reaches the heart of darkness in the eyes of knowledge.”

Patrick Jeffrey Ukutegbe

WHO ARE YOU IN ME?

In the very beginning of every successful venture, there must be time for concrete and pensive thoughts; there must be purposeful and deliberate reflections. Before the start of anything that will see the light of the day, there must be an answer to this question: Who Are You? This question should not be seen as directed to the originator of the idea alone; it should also be answered by the venture which is in mind. 

Unless you know who you are as an individual, your place among the other human beings might not be known. Unless you know your strengths and your weaknesses, you might perpetually be fighting a battle of self-identification by remaining in a spot without moving to the next level. And unless you spend your time on this subject of knowing who you are, you might not really know what you have and what you are meant to achieve or to accomplish as an individual.

In the beginning, what is your name? Don’t give a rush answer. It is not “what is your name?”, it is “what is in your name?”. you must know your name beyond the sound of it, you must make effort to know why you were given that name at birth; you must go all out to know the first bearer of that name and see why your dear parents choose to give you that name. Now, that is the beginning, and this beginning has nothing, really, to do with you. But now that you are the bearer of the name, now that you are the one in the middle of the ocean of knowing who you are, then you must also know what you bear. Your name is as important as your birth.

In another beginning, you should withdraw from your outside to your inside, to reach to that you that is inside of and bring out the whole of you. This is about knowing and identifying the creative power of your mind, the putting of your finger at that talent which came with you at birth, that unique identification tag that was given to you by the Almighty Creator to make you different and to help you accomplish the task for which you were made. In most cases, you might find out you have more than one talent, but quality time at knowing who you are in the inside, would reveal the most outstanding of all the talents; that is the one first attention must be given to, and others will follow suit.

Another beginning is to know your interests, and the additional power you must have acquired through education and experience. You must make use of the people, situations and activities that comes your way every day of your life. Nothing happens to you for the fun of it. Everything that has ever happened to you, and will happen to you; everyone that has ever come across your way and that will come across your way, will leave a mark in your heart – either for good or for bad. It is therefore your sole responsibility to turn the marks to your stepping stones, leading you to the peak of your life.

When you know who you are inside, you will know your purpose and your destiny; you will know every single step that will lead you to the peak in everything you set to be in life.

EDOKA PETER-PAUL

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In The Beginning...

EDOKA PETER-PAUL

Where ever you are today, whatever you are doing, either as a job or career or even in your relationship; there was a beginning. There was a day when you said to yourself: Today, I will start! But know this: that was not the day the dream to succeed began, that was not the day you started to walk towards that dream. That day could be the day you realized you have a dream to follow, a path to tread and a destiny to reach. It could be in the morning of the day or at noon or night hour when you were retiring to bed after a long day. It could also be at work or at play when someone said something or someone did something. Such realization comes from the everyday thing that we know and do; but at that instant, the ‘familiar’ thing becomes a ‘new’ thing because it was covered with insight and broader meaning to what it used to be.

There was a beginning. In the beginning, you were created in the image and likeness of God, and God breathed into your mortal body the breath of life, the life that is full of potentials and talents and genuine interests – all to the glory of God and the sanctification of the human race. It is not clear how long it took God to form you, but it is clear that your ‘formation’ involved getting some clay from the ground, molding you into a beautiful shape and breathing into you to make the ‘clay’ come to live. Before the breath you were just ‘clay’; lifeless and without meaning or purpose. But the breath gave you life and meaning to why you should be a living thing and not just ‘clay’. And not just a living thing, but a being that shares likeness with Him. God gave you all that He was and still is - His breath, Spirit and ability to reason just like Him.

In the beginning God made you for a purpose, to accomplish a task that only you will do – unless you refuse to do it by your own free will which God respects – God will take that task and add it to another person’s own, who has much and is using them well. Thus goes the parable of the Three Servants in the Gospel of St. Matthew 25:14-30 and that of St. Luke19:11-27, “... For to every person who has something even more will be given, and he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing, even the little that he has will be taken away from him.” It simply means everyone has something inside to offer the human existence, and everyone is called to use even the little that is given. And when you don’t use what you have, it will be taken from you and given to someone else who is making use of even the much that is given.

In the beginning, your gifts, talents, abilities, potentials and interests were deposited in your being the moment God breathed the breath of life into your nostrils and gave you a spirit. That moment, the seeds of success, wisdom, knowledge and understanding, and the power to judge what is right or wrong were planted in you. That was the first assignment given to ‘man’ immediately he was created: to put his intellect to work and exercise his ability to manage his inheritance which God has freely given. The seed to succeed, the great seed of wisdom and the inestimable sow of knowledge and deep understanding; are all the things that flowed from God to ‘man’ and are meant to make humanity grow in the image and likeness of Him, under His ever protecting and directing will.

In the beginning, all these things were with you as you were growing up; as you went to all the schools you attended and they are still with you. The moment you said: Today, I will start, that is the moment all these things will be made visible to you and you can begin to feel them, to use them and to start accomplishing all that you were made to accomplish on earth. If no particular thing is deposited in your being for you to use while on earth, there is no way you would have it, even if you so desire it. God has given you from the beginning the entire things He knew would be relevant for you to live happily and successful in the times that has been allocated to you. So just like you have your unique face and hair and eye colour, so you have all that you had to make you achieve your purpose.

Did you just realized you have a dream to pursuit? Your realization is an eye-opener to knowing the means that you will use to reach that dream. And the moment you corporate with these means, your dream will be accomplished in what seems like a rush – but it’s not a rush because it has always been there, buried inside you. Probably, over the years you have been busy running after the things that were not meant to be yours. It could be that you saw your dad or mum doing a particular thing, maybe as a career or job or even skill; and the first thing you thought of is that same thing could be your own ‘calling’ too. And since you have tried several times to make your interest there yield fruits, and it seems like it will never amount to anything following that path, you realized yourself and your desire; and found out that you are different from your father or your mother and from what they both are engaged in.

Don’t you get surprise when last year you saw someone who was struggling to eat or wear good cloths, suddenly this year is eating well, dressing well and even riding a car? The secret could be this: All the things the person has now were there waiting to be claimed by that person. Maybe all these years the person did not know how to get to these things or what is needed to be done. But the moment the person knows and applies the knowledge; these things will come like in a rush to the person, to the owner. 

Whatever your kind of dream, goal or aspiration, there are means to reaching it. Some dreams and goals and aspirations have some paths in common while some other paths are better meant for some specific achievements. You must know the paths that would lead you to your ultimate goal in this life’s journey. You must identify or discover the paths that will lead you to the zenith of your purpose in life.

In the beginning of a relationship for instance, everything will appear smooth and rosy, and the future of that passion and desire for its success will be seen to be bright and beautiful. But such feelings and assurance do not sometimes live to see the sixth month of the relationship. It is either the parties involved are striving to keep it burning towards success or the relationship has hit the rock already.

It is often seen at the beginning of anything that is good, that challenges will come, trials will come – a sign that it is special and important and everything should be done to make it a huge success. That is why to do something wrong seems easy when it will not amount to anything good. But something good would be difficult at the beginning, which shows ultimately, that the success of it will be better, even with the challenges that are coming with it.

In the beginning of a promising relationship, the parties involved could be finding it difficult to stay away from each other for a day or two. But mid-way into the relationship, most times after marriage, the need to spend time with each other began to reduce and the passion for sharing every second together would begin to fade – at this stage, what is expected is to always ‘return’ to the beginning. Just like an illustration about the life span of a car: it started from the workshop where it was manufactured and given little fuel for it to start ‘living’. During the ‘life’ of the car, whenever it seems like its developing fault, the owner either returns it to the manufacturer or to an expert. And often, very often, the car will need fuel-refilling to keep moving which is its own ‘living’. Relationship and career and job however, need more care and attention for it to be strong and live its potential purpose. And the beginning should be the ‘workshop’ and ‘fuel’ that should be visited every now and then to get ‘strength’ for it to strive and reach the peak of its potentials. When you ‘visit’ the positive past and draw from it every reason to hold-on to that which is attempting to slip from your grip, you will have a hundred and one reason to work and wait for those great days to come again.

I am the only son and the last child. I will leave you to imaging how my beginning was. The beginning that I sometimes wished it could come back again – where I had everything I needed and everything my parents could afford. As a child with a caring elder sister, no child my age or older makes me cry and goes free. My sister would make sure that person apologized to me or cry for it. I grew up with so much care and attention that even as a grown up, I grave for those times to come again. It was that feeling that made me to write a thought thus: what my mother did to me-I don’t like it. What my father told me-I don’t like them. They should have told me that: “Son, one day, this childhood will end.” If they had, maybe today I would have been better.

But that was in the beginning, the beginning that I visited every time I am faced with challenges and needed motivation to strive and make the future of my kids better. That beginning is even the reason why I am writing as a career today – my elder sister would get me books to read in my free times and I would have to write her briefs after all. And because we spend quite time alone, we use reading and writing as our best friends. That is my beautiful beginning.

In the beginning, you must cherish the moments and create memories around you and within you; memories that would help you strive harder and with purpose in the near future. The beginning will later become the ‘fuel’ and ‘workshop’ that would give strength to your present and future, and help you to succeed.

There are five practical means to which every dream and goal can be attained or reached. These will be discussed subsequently as we explore the means to equip our selves today for brighter and better tomorrow.

T

here is so much tension in the air. There are too many negative utterances concerning the forthcoming general elections. People and parties and organizations are spreading fear all over the land as if something more than the elections is coming. And each time I reflect on this, I see the youths at the center of this supposedly utterance war; coming in contact every single day (these days) on the front pages of the national dailies and on all other Medias.

Individuals, parties and organizations are going into various archives to bring to light again, captions and pictures that portrait the ‘good’ or the ‘evil’ of some individuals vying for one political office or the other, especially the presidential office. On the front page of the Punch News Paper dated Monday, January 19, 2015, it stands written in bold and with different colours: NIGERIANS BE WARDNED! NIGERIA …” I have set before thee LIFE & DEATH. Therefore, choose LIFE that both thee and thy seed may LIVE.” Deut 30 vs 19. In the above mentioned daily, precisely on page 9, it states: JOBS IN LAGOS PROVIDE FOR MILLIONS OF NIGERIANS. WE CANNOT LEAVE THE FATE OF MILLIONS TO AN INEXPERIENCE LEADER …”

I cannot see reason why there should be so much ‘insults’ between interested politicians, their parties or their friend-organizations with the view of wining ‘followers’. I cannot bring myself to ‘follow’ someone who uses insulting and degrading words, in the aim of gaining my trust. I prefer to follow someone who gives his/her opinions on bringing lasting solutions the country’s socio-economic problems. I desire to follow anyone who respects the opinion of the other party, who see the other person as mortal who is capable of doing ‘wrong’ today and becoming ‘better’ tomorrow, and not judging today because of yesterday.

In all of these, I see the youth of the country as the tool and weapon that can be use to either bring lasting solution or continue to cause havoc in the society. I see the youths as the only available weapons of mass growth or mass destruction. I see the youths as the easily-reached tool and weapon employed by these ‘insulting individuals and parties and organizations.’ I see the youths that do not know what way to follow, where to make a bold U-turn, and when to stop completely on the track that has not been leading to growth and development, falling prey to desperate politicians, where they are use as ‘weapon to create ‘un-peaceful nation’.

I desire to refer every young person in this country and around the world to the book of Prophet Isaiah chapter two verses two to five (Isaiah 2:2-5), where the Scripture holds (in paraphrasing) that: In these days of unrest, these days when there is fear everywhere you turn, days when politicians chose to ‘insult’ themselves to show us they love us and want to lead us, days when there are so many homeless people in their own father’s land, days when the leaders forget to ‘fight’ for the people, and were ‘fighting’ to gain power by all means; the only place nations like Nigeria and its people should go is the hill of the Lord, where He will teach us what to do to bring sanity again to the land. It is only God that will settle dispute among great nations, only God can make us hammer our guns and explosives and looting and corruption, into plough and peace and economic growth. It is only God, who from the beginning of creation made great plans for us all that can bring His original plans back into existence in the life of our world, nations and as individuals. Returning to Him on His holy mountain does not mean going up one mountain or going into one Church; it is simply, going to him with your heart-personally knowing Him and His plans and purposes.

To kill and loot and destroy and rig during election is never the plan and purpose of God for us. The youths must not allow themselves to be used to achieve evil. They should be creative in their thinking and create solutions to the problems we are facing; which will obviously need the creative power of everyone, contributing his/her quota of positive and creative thoughts, to the green-and-white bowl that needs to be filled great minds and ideas to achieve lasting peace and rapid development. And the only true source of such minds and ideas and innovation is God. He alone can give the kind of wisdom we individually need to move our beloved country to the next level of positive growth and development in every sector of the economy.

The 2015 general election is meant to ‘change’ occupants of the various political offices, and not to cause fear and panic and unnecessary anxiety among the people. It is a period of evaluating the ‘present’ occupants of the offices and reaching a reasonable decision to either keep them in the office or seek another mind to transform the office and perform better; even those occupying the office at present and seeking re-election, should only be encourage to ‘do better’ than the term that is passing. That they were or are bad today does not mean they can't be better tomorrow. I therefore see no reason why there should be ‘sounds of war’ and ‘insulting’ utterances coming from those that the graving to be our leaders. I believe they should be more gentle and kind with words; driving their points home in peaceful co-existence rather than with violence and insults and destruction.

 Nigeria youths must be awakening to the fact that the ‘future’ starts right now. Individuals must make deliberate effort to change the mind-set of ‘unless we get money from you, we won’t vote you in.’ Once someone gives you money and got your vote, s/he will ‘steal’ the money given to you at first before thinking of doing anything for the community or the country. The days of ‘stomach infrastructure’ is gone with the wind of ignorance. The wind of positive change has come, and it’s blowing everywhere, seeking great minds to fill and inspire and motivate. And this wind can only enter an individual or group who is open to creative and positive thought pattern, it will come to those who connect back to the Source of Power, where creativity started, where peaceful co-existence has it firm root, and where everything was declared ‘GOOD’; and that Source is GOD.

Youths must therefore embrace and inhale this wind of change and see a brighter future ahead. Youths should be leaders of today and of tomorrow; because unless one is firm and positive in his/her decision making now, tomorrow might not even come for that person to make any meaningful decision to lasting and positive change in the society. Unless the youths see that the future of this nation lies in their hands, they will stay ‘calm’ and ‘mute’ to the happening in the land.

The troubles of today are ‘fruits’ that grew from the ‘trees’ of decisions ‘planted’ in the past. But we should know, that the land still remain the same – Nigeria, and the soils (us) are still fertile, with willing hearts to produce better crops if given better seeds. We must therefore understand the terms of the farmer to be able to cultivate the land and plant good seeds and expect great harvest in the future that is not too far away. To keep repeating the ugly term that: This is Nigeria, nothing good can come out”, or again. “This is Nigeria, where anything goes,” will do us no good; will not bring about any change in the current trend of backwardness and corruption and sufferings and pains and fears. Because if we continue repeating the believe system or attitude of those who where here before us, if we continue walking in the shoes of those who made the decisions that are affecting us today, without making creative effort to change ourselves and our attitude, we shall continue to remain perpetually in the same state, and continuously ‘suffering and smiling’.

Today, it doesn’t matter anymore who made the decisions that are bringing us pains and sufferings and hunger and poverty and unemployment. Some of those that made the decisions years ago are still alive and are making every effort to ‘come-back’ into our ‘farm land’ to either plant ‘better seeds’ or yet another ‘un-fruitful’ seed. Today, some of those who made the terrible decisions that are affecting us negatively are dead, but their ‘seeds’ are making drastic effort, either to come complete the ‘evil’ work of their father, or to continue the ‘good’ work of their father, and or, to right the wrong done by their father.

Today again, the mantel of ‘leadership’ has been given to us, where we are face with the opportunity and challenge to correct the wrongs of yesterday, to make conscious effort towards making the right choice of choosing  who should ‘drive’ the vehicle leading to the Nigeria of our dream; the Nigeria where our children and children’s children will have the liberty of attending good schools, have quality health facilities, grow in an environment where creativity and positive attitude will help them become wish men and women.

History is not meant to make us cry all the time. History is meant to be a guide, helping us to know where we are coming from, where we are and where we should make effort to go-the right direction. We must allow the times of the pass to guide us to the future, not by being angry with it or those who where in it, but by studying it and applying its disciplined instructions towards attaining positive growth and development.

Youths must be weapon of positive, lasting change and not destruction, violence and corruption!

BY: EDOKA PETER-PAUL